“Who is that girl?” I asked.
“Philippa? My maid,” she answered, without the slightest token of
understanding, much less of sharing, the suspicion which I feared I
had, perhaps, too strongly suggested by my rather pointed inquiry. “Or,
rather,” she corrected, with some slight show of sarcasm, “she is what
is commonly called _a companion_; being sufficiently well educated to
read to me if I happen to be in the mood for listening, or even to play
on the piano, if music is required in the house.”
The chill indifference of this answer stamped Mrs. Winchester as a
woman of more elegance than feeling; but as that only made my rather
disagreeable task easier, it would be ungracious in me to criticise it.
“How long has she been with you?” I pursued.
“Oh, a year; perhaps more.”
“And you know her well; her antecedents and associates?”
“Yes; I know her; all that there is to know. She is not a deep person,
nor is she worthy your questions. Let us drop Philippa.”
“In one moment,” I returned. “In a case like this I must satisfy myself
thoroughly as to the character and past history of all who are in the
house. I have seen Philippa, and consequently push my inquiries in her
regard first. With whom did she live before she came to you, and where
does she spend her time when she is not with you in the house?”
Mrs. Winchester grew visibly impatient. “Follies!” she cried; then,
hurriedly, as if anxious to be done with my importunities, “Philippa is
the daughter of the clergyman who married my husband and myself. I have
always known her; she came from her father’s death-bed to my house. As
for associates, she has none; and the time she spends out of my rooms
is so small that I think it is hardly worth inquiring how or where it
is employed. Have you any further inquiries to make?”
I had, but I reserved them. “Will you let me speak to Philippa?” I
asked.
Her gesture was one of the utmost disdain, but it contained an
acquiescence of which I was not slow in availing myself. Stepping
rapidly into the hall, I approached the slight figure I had managed to
keep in view during this conversation.
But at my first movement in her direction the young girl started, and
before I could address her she had passed through the doorway of the
opposite room and disappeared in the darkness beyond.